Sausage Patties with Roasted Peppers

Sausage Patties with Roasted Peppers was what was for dinner for the 4th of July. The weather was really crappy, but we were lucky to be able to grill. I made Chef Silvio's recipe for Roasted Peppers to put on top of the sausage.

Ingredients-

6 large yellow and/or red peppers

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, cut into slivers

20 pitted Calamata olives

2 heaping teaspoons capers

1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs

Method-

Cook peppers on a grill or bake on a sheet pan at 450˚, turning frequently, until charred all around. Place them in a closed brown bag and let rest for 1/2 hour. Take peppers out, remove stems and seeds, and peel. Cut into 1-inch strips and place in a bowl. Add oil, garlic, olive, capers, half of the parsley, and salt and pepper to taste, and give a good mix. Place in a shallow baking pan, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and bake at 400˚ for 10 minutes, or until the top turns light brown and a bit crusty. Using a metal spatula, transfer them to a serving dish and sprinkle with the rest of the parsley.

Chicken Francaise My Way

Simple and Fast. I made  Chicken Francaise but did not follow a recipe. I just went with my gut on this and it received rave reviews. The only thing I left out from the "recipe" was the egg. I just dredged the chicken in flour and put it in a hot saute pan that had butter and olive oil heated. About 3 to 4 minutes per side and then put the chicken on a plate and covered it with foil. To the pan I added white wine. That cooked down and I added lemon juice and parsley. The chicken went back into the pan for about 3 to 4 minutes. That was it. Fast, simple and delicious.

One Pan Farro With Tomatoes

What No Meat!

Tonight's recipe is from Smitten Kitchen. 

Delicious!

 And I have leftovers for 2 lunches. 

Win-Win! 

Smitten Kitchen was one of the first food blogs that I started to follow all those years ago.

Here is the link to the original post. 

Spend some time on the blog. 

There are many, many amazing recipes.

Ingredients-

2 cups water

1 cup  semi-pearled farro 

1/2 large onion 

9 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher or coarse sea salt

Up to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

Few basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons

Feta Cheese

Method-

Place water and farro in a medium saucepan to presoak (I soaked for  5 before starting the recipe) while you prepare the other ingredients. Adding each ingredient to the pot as you finish preparing it, cut the onion in half again, and very thinly slice it into quarter-moons. Halve or quarter tomatoes. Add salt, pepper flakes (to taste), and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan, and set a timer for 30 minutes. Bring uncovered pan (no lid necessary) up to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. When the timer rings, the farro should be perfectly cooked (tender but with a meaty chew), seasoned and the cooking water should be almost completely absorbed. If needed, though I’ve never found it necessary, cook it for 5 additional minutes, until the fare is more tender.

Transfer to a wide serving bowl. If there’s enough leftover cooking liquid to be bothersome, simply use a slotted spoon to leave the amount you wish to behind. Drizzle farro lightly with additional olive oil, scatter with basil and parmesan.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork

I often see packages of pulled pork at the store and think that would be a great idea for dinner. But then I read was in the packages and I move on.

With this recipe, I was able to make enough for this meal and I have a meal in the freezer. 

I found the recipe on SkinnyTaste.com. I did the slow cooking on Sunday. I picked up some cole slaw and rolls.

Tasty! 

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork, click here for the original recipe.

Ingredients-

2.5 lb boneless pork loin roast, center cut, trimmed of all fat

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp sea salt

1 cup BBQ Sauce


Method-

Place pork in the slow cooker and season with salt, vinegar, smoked paprika.


Cover and set to high 6 hours.


Remove pork and transfer onto a large dish; reserve all the liquid into a cup and set aside.


Shred the pork with two forks and put it back into the slow cooker along with about 3/4 cup of the reserved liquid and the BBQ sauce (for every 3 oz cooked pork, use 2 tbsp BBQ sauce).


Cook on high 1 more hour.


Chicken Saltimbocca

This recipe is from Delish.com. It came together super fast. About 30 minutes to get it on the table.

Ingredients-

2 chicken cutlets 

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp. sage, finely chopped, plus 3 large leaves per cutlet 

4 slices prosciutto (about 3 oz.)

1/3 c. all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 c. dry white wine

1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth

Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

Freshly grated Parmesan, for garnish

Method-

Season the cutlets generously on each side with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cutlets with chopped sage. Lay a slice of prosciutto over each cutlet and wrap any excess underneath. Next, press 3 sage leaves into each cutlet making sure the sage adheres to the prosciutto.

Pour flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper. Carefully dredge each cutlet in flour, being sure to press any sage leaves that have fallen off back onto the cutlet.

In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add cutlets prosciutto side down and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the prosciutto is browned and slightly crispy. Flip and cook for an additional 4 to 5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and set it aside.

Reduce the heat to medium and add butter to the pan, making sure to scrape up any browned bits. Once the butter is melted and foamy. Stir in wine, bring to a simmer, and let cook for 3 minutes or until reduced by half. Add broth, return to a simmer, and cook for another 3 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by half again.

Add the chicken back into the skillet and cook for 2 minutes, spooning the sauce over the top of the chicken to coat. Move to a plate and garnish with a sprinkle of parsley and freshly grated Parmesan.

The Grill is Ready

Chris fired up the Weber Grill tonight and the result was 2 beautifully cooked Delmonico Steaks.

This week Chris mentioned that T & J, an IGA store in East Haven, was having their 50th Anniversary sale. I looked at the flyer online and made a run over there at lunch yesterday.

Porterhouse steaks for $7.50 a pound. Delmonico Steaks/Rib Eye for $8.50 a pound.

My favorite steak is the Porterhouse/T-Bone. So I came home with 4 family packs, containing 2 steaks each of Porterhouse Steaks. These steaks are about 2 inches thick. I used the food vacuum sealer and packaged them up for the freezer. 

Tonight we had the one Rib Eye family pack that I purchased.

I use to shop at T & J when we lived in East Haven. I had forgotten about their incredible meat and fish departments. It is a 10-minute ride from work. Yeah!!!

And we needed to open a bottle of wine to go with dinner. Our wine sommelier made a nice selection for us to try. 

 

3-Ingredient Cheese Tortellini with Tomatoes & Basil

Tonight's recipe is from EatingWell.com. 45 minutes and the result was a perfect sauce. 

I do love roasted cherry tomatoes. Delicious.

Ingredients-

2 pints cherry tomatoes

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil 

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 pound refrigerated cheese tortellini

1 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

Method-

Preheat oven to 425°F. Put a large pot of water on to boil.

Place tomatoes in a shallow baking dish or pan. Add oil, salt, and pepper and toss to combine. Roast for 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200° and continue cooking until the tomatoes are soft and juicy about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain. Add the roasted tomatoes to the drained tortellini and toss. Top with basil.

 

Friday Night Pizza

Dinner does get easier than this. Rocco's Off Wooster is our favorite pizza this side of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, the former Q-Bridge for those who know it.

On the other side of the bridge our favorite is Zuppardi's in West Haven.

Tonight we got 2 small pies. A Sausage and Peppers and an Eggplant with Red Sauce. Soooo Goood!

And we may have another pizza fan in the house. Maybe we should have named him Garfield instead of Patrick.

 

Cheesy Hot Dogs and Potatoes

Again, thanks to having the air conditioner on I was able to make this dinner. It only took one baking sheet in the oven.

Sliced up hot dogs, cubed potatoes (nice and small so they take less time to crisp up), chopped pepper (I used 1/2 an orange bell pepper), salt, pepper, some cayenne pepper, and chile powder. The ingredients go to a baking tray. Toss with olive oil and into a 375˚ oven. The time depends on the size of the potatoes. You want them a little crispy. Stir after about 20 minutes and I kept it in the oven for another 20 minutes. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

This took a little longer to prepare than I was planning, but we both ate just about every last piece on the baking sheet. And have I mentioned easy cleaning?

Grilled Chicken Caprese

After I wrote this post I go to my camera to pick out the best photos and there are no photos. Operator Error Strikes again.

I found this recipe on the EatingWell site. Fast to prepare and tasty! Just under 20 minutes to get it on the table. Love the Balsamic Glaze. The recipe on EatingWell had directions to make your own Balsamic Glaze. I found a bottle of it at the grocery store.

The basil was not looking healthy at the store. I still have not bought a basil plant for the deck yet so I tried a tube of basil in oil. Nice idea. 

Both Chris and I enjoyed this dinner a lot!

Ingredients-
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic glaze (see Tip), divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
2 cloves garlic, grated
½ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
1 pound chicken cutlets
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 small tomato, thinly sliced 

Method-
Preheat grill to medium-high or heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.

Combine oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic glaze, basil, garlic, pepper, and salt in a small bowl. Brush the mixture on both sides of the chicken.

Oil the grill rack or pan. Grill the chicken until it easily releases from the grill or pan, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and top with mozzarella and tomato. Grill until the cheese is melted and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken registers 165°F, 3 to 4 minutes more. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon balsamic glaze and sprinkle with more basil, if desired.